Rice cereal for 8 week old? Please answer this question..?

Question

My 8 week old has been on gas drops, Alimentum, and now the doc thinks she has acid reflux and wants me to put in 1 tablespoon of rice cereal per ounce of formula every feeding.... does this make sense? I really dont think that its working.... I dont know what to do. I just gave her a bottle of Nutrimigen to see if that helps but she is in pain all of the time...

Answer 1

I have a 6 week old and she has the same problem. We tried all different kinds of formula including the nutrimagen. Nothing has worked so far. We put her back on Nestle Good start just today because nutramagen is too expensive. The rice cereal thing was one of the first things that our doctor told us to try actually as early as 4 weeks old. Our doctor also put her on Zantac. Nothing is helping so far. So we are going to see a pediatric gastroenteroligist. Sometimes you have to be pushy and really keep talking to the doctor. Hopefully they can do something because, trust me, I know how hard it is dealing with a baby with reflux. They cry all the time :(

If the baby does have reflux, I dont think food is the answer. Thinkg about it.. it's the acid coming back up that hurts, It doesnt much matter what food you give them.

Answer 2

The rice cereal will thicken the formula so it stays down. I've been putting rice cereal in my 6 month old's bottle since she was 3 months and had to go off of Enfamil AR due to milk allergy.

If nothing else is working, this will sound silly but try a formula that doesn't have DHA in it. It's hard to find, but you can still get Good Start Essentials, plain Similac, plain Isomil, and plain Enfamil. My daughter was spitting up and screaming for the first 4 1/2 months of her life before I got desperate and tried Isomil without the DHA. She was a new baby overnight and is now off her reflux meds.

Answer 3

My boy had the exact issue. The cereal helped alot. the pukeing slowed and the paun seemed to ease some. After all of the peditritions solutions didn't seem to solve the problem I demanded that my son be refered to a GI specialist. They put him on previcid at 6 mond old and for the first time my baby smiled instead of cried at feeding time. He started to play and laugh. Because it took so long for the docs to lidten to me that there was a problem he didn't crawl untill 9 monts and didn't walk untill 14 months. Acid refulx in an infent is not a fun thing and you are in my thoughts. I've been where you are and I listened to all the docs and I did what they said untill I couldn't take the look of agony in my babys eyes anymore. We thickened his bottles at every feeding from the time he was 4 weeks old untill his GI specialist told me it was ok to put him on table food at 9 months old. It was all I could get him to keep down. The thickining (or cereal) did help alot. But the ultimite fix for my son was the Previcid. He was a whold new kid. If you as a mom feel that the cereal isn't helping your child demand a referal. The GI specialist can tell you if it is simply G.E.R.D (Gastrointestinal Revulx Desease) or if she is asperating. There are lots of things the can be a side efect of reflux that a normal doc may not tell you. they didn't tell me. They thought I was nuts and it was all in MY head. Please feel free to email me if you would like to know our story.

Answer 4

Have you tried soy formula? My middle child had to be put on soy because of her colic. It helped tremendously. My oldest was spitting up so much that I got really worried and kept bugging the doctor, so they put him on a similar diet with the rice cereal. Other than weighing 20 pounds at 3 months and being very heavy, he turned out ok. He is 13 now (14 next month) and a very healthy child. Some children can handle cereal at a young age, some can't. Your best bet is to just give it a shot. Your doctor DID go to medical school, we however DID NOT. He/she will know what's best for your child. If you still aren't sure, get a second opinion.

Answer 5

Wow, you sound like me.
My daughter was put on Alimentum because they thought she had colic. But she didn't....she had really bad reflux. Thankfully my pediatrician agreed with changed her formula to Enfmail AR. It was WONDERFUL............
we were putting rice cereal in the Alimentum to begin with because it is SO thin, but it really bothered her stomach (she was 5 weeks when this was going on). We switched her to the AR and started her on Prevacid......she was a whole new baby. Talk to your doctor about the AR. does she need the Alimentum? Or was she having reflux issues all along. that is something you want to talk to your doc about. If she definitely has a protein intolerance and needs the Alimentum, then you may have to keep it.
But if she screams alot, get hiccups all the time, arches her back, claws at your face (don't ask my why reflux babies do that), screams when laying down, and does that hiccupy-burpy thing before she screams.........she may not need the Alimentum and may just need reflux treatment.
Good Luck.........feel free to email me if you have any questions

Answer 6

My son had all kinds of problems with acid reflux when he was very young. Talk to your doctor but my pediatrician had me put him on soy formula, she had me give him 1/4 of a tsp. of Mylanta (DONT do it unless your doctor oks it first). When that didnt work, she perscribed him Zantac 1/2 tsp. twice daily, and when he still was in pain, she gave me a perscription for 1 Prevacid (dissolvable tab) per day in addtion to the rest. That combination worked really well for us. I was not really a huge fan of medicating my child, but to hear him cry you could tell he was in pain. There ARE other medicines out there, things that can and will make a difference. You just need to find the right combination for your baby. Suggest a few of these to your pediatrician, if he/she is unwilling to try something else, since what you are doing isnt working....You might want to look for a new pediatrician.

I dont believe that rice cereal is the answer. It might soak up some of the acid in his stomach, but it can lead to so many other problems, obesity, food allergies, etc. See if you doctor will let you try the Mylanta Extra Strength 1/4 tsp. when he gets especially fussy. I had good luck with the cherry flavor. Good Luck to You!

Answer 7

This is pretty routine, I know several moms who have used this method to help with acid reflux unfortunatley it didn't really work, I think it is suppose thicken the formula so not as much comes up with they spit up... right now it is just a matter of trial and error until you find what works best for her... Breastfeeding is really the best thing for the baby, you should try to put the baby to your breast until your milk starts to flow and see how that works, and no it's not too late and no your milk is not all dried up as long as you stimulate the breast the milk will flow you can even use a pump to help and this may be the answer to your problems some babies have very sensitive stomachs and breastmilk is the easiest thing to digest for such a young baby... It may sound crazy but I assure you I know woman who have never been pregnant and adopted babies and been able to breastfeed

Answer 8

Alimentum and Nutramigen are much the same. Though there are kids that can handle one and not the other.

Are they sure it is reflux and not a food allergy? She could be reacting to the milk based formula. If the pediatrician thinks it is reflux I would seek out a pediatric gastroenterologist for confirmation.

Answer 9

I feel for you! my first child went through the same thing her first year... she screamed in pain even when I was breasfeeding her.

But I would listen to the Doctor. Call the Doc if you are still worried or ask to see another Doc in the practice if you are not comfortable with this one.

Also get a wedge to put under the crib mattress. This will help your baby sleep at an angle and not flat on her back. Please do not put the baby on his or her tummy -SIDS.

in the meantime, until you get a wedge, see if the baby will sleep in her carseat, in the crib. This helped my child(until i got the wedge) since she was slightly upright. My Doctor ok'd this also.

Good Luck, and yes it will get better.

Answer 10

Well, rice cereal may or may not stop gas or acid...I'm not sure...but it thickens the formula so she may drink more slowly...thereby not swallowing as much air...which will cause her to burp less...which means there's less formula and stomach acid backing up into her esophogus.

Is her formula fortified with iron? Sometimes babies don't tolerate iron well. Also...she may have a lactose intolerance issue, and would do better with a soy formula...or the other way around. She may not tolerate soy well.